http://www.t-i.org.uk The Transatlantic Institute, a London-based educational charity, promotes and facilitates a new understanding of international issues, free of political partisanship and institutional bias. Our website lists events, publications, and commentary on international issues. en-uk Copyright The Transatlantic Institute 2004-2008. Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:00:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss info@t-i.org.uk info@t-i.org.uk http://www.t-i.org.uk/obamacaucasus06nov08.php Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:00:00 GMT The incoming US administration will face a range of foreign policy challenges around the world. What changes in US policy in the Caucasus region should we expect? Russia Georgia Caucasus United States of America Iran Kaliningrad Armenia Azerbaijan Barack Obama Karabakh http://www.t-i.org.uk/akhalgori16oct08.php Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:00:00 GMT Talks to ease the conflict over Georgia's Moscow-backed breakaway regions were suspended until next month on Wednesday after diplomats failed to get Russia and Georgia to agree on who was allowed to take part in the talks in Geneva. It is safe to say that the Russians were not overly concerned about last week's talks going ahead. At the last moment they insisted that Abkhazian and South Ossetian representatives be included fully in the talks, knowing that this would be unacceptable to Georgia... Russia Georgia Caucasus South Ossetia Abkhazia International Court of Justice http://www.t-i.org.uk/events.php Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:15:00 GMT Location: The New Economic School -- Georgia, 4 Sanapiro street, VII floor, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia. The talk will look at the events which have followed the Russo-Georgian War and what they may reveal about the trajectory for the Caucasus and beyond -- and will discuss why recent events are not, contrary to most commentary, a return of the Cold War, but rather show that something very new is happening. Turkey Russia Georgia Armenia Azerbaijan United Nations Karabakh energy Caucasus Black Sea Iran South Ossetia Abkhazia Ukraine NATO http://www.t-i.org.uk/turkey11sep08.php Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:15:00 GMT In the immediate aftermath of the Russo-Georgian War, Turkey finds itself in the unenviable position of holding the key to re-establishing balance in the region. Turkey Russia Georgia Armenia Azerbaijan United Nations Karabakh energy Caucasus Black Sea Iran South Ossetia Abkhazia Ukraine NATO Syria Israel Montreux Treaty http://www.t-i.org.uk/depoliticisingnature.php Mon, 1 Sep 2008 12:30:00 GMT As we write this, almost two million people are heading inland from the southern US coastline, fleeing Hurricane Gustav. Readers may be interested in our Hurricane Katrina analysis from September/ October 2005. "The challenge of Katrina is twofold: policy responses that take these lessons into account cannot themselves be simple; and, given the current political dialogue, there is no way these policy responses can easily be aired." USA natural disaster http://www.t-i.org.uk/sco29aug08.php Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:15:00 GMT Commentary on the Russia/ Georgia war by Ziba Norman, 29 August 2008.Russian President Medvedev expected to return from the Annual Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ["SCO"] (a treaty organisation that includes Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, with a clear message of support for Russia's actions in Georgia... Russia Georgia Caucasus Chechnya CIS counter-terrorism NATO Shanghai Cooperation Organisation disarmament South Ossetia Kyrgystan China Tajikistan Iran Uzbekistan Andijon massacre Kazakhstan Uighurs Abkhazia Kosovo Pakistan India http://www.t-i.org.uk/georgia26aug08.php Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:30:00 GMT Commentary on the Russia/ Georgia war by Ziba Norman, 26 August 2008. President Medvedev has officially recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. This move, taken in clear violation of international law and one with very clear advantages for Russia, marks the end of the first chapter of a story that began with an engagement between rebel separatists in South Ossetia and the Georgian army on 7 August, and ended with an invasion by Russia, supposedly acting as peacekeepers in the region. Russia Georgia Caucasus European Union energy security NATO Abkhazia South Ossetia East Turkistan China Azerbaijan Iran Black Sea http://www.t-i.org.uk/russiaschallengetonato.php Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:45:00 GMT Commentary on the Russia/ Georgia war by Ziba Norman, 18 August 2008. Russia can no longer hide behind the claim that she was operating as a peacekeeper in the volatile Caucasus. Russia's challenge to Poland is loud and clear, it is a challenge to all members of NATO and the EU. Russia Georgia Caucasus European Union Poland NATO http://www.t-i.org.uk/georgia15aug08.php Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:45:00 GMT Commentary on the Russia/ Georgia war by Ziba Norman, 15 August 2008. The next phase in this may be as dangerous as the last week, leaving a broken country in a state of chaos.... Russia Georgia Caucasus South Ossetia G8 WTO http://www.t-i.org.uk/russiamoretogain.php Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT Commentary on the Russia/ Georgia war by Ziba Norman, 10 August 2008. The movement of Russian forces into Georgia in the past few days is the most significant event since the end of the Cold War... Russia Georgia Caucasus South Ossetia Abkhazia NATO http://www.t-i.org.uk/publications.php Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT Article by Rashad Shirinov on the US missile defense shield. Original publication: Caucasian Review of International Affairs (Spring 2008). Karl Marx used to say that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. In line with this, the entire recent idea of a missile defense shield that the US has been willing to install in Eastern Europe is reminiscent of that of the Cold War era, when two major superpowers were targeting their strategic missiles towards each other... USA Russia missile defense shield deterrence Iran Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty Missile Technology Control Regime interceptor radar http://www.t-i.org.uk/azerbaijan-eandw.php Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT Article about Azerbaijan by Ziba Norman, 17 May 2007. In the geopolitical hotspot of Azerbaijan any semblance of calm is welcomed. So the prosperity that the country's estimated $140 billion in oil revenues promises to generate and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline have dominated the headlines, trumping more serious discussions about this complex nation struggling to find its identity... Azerbaijan Daghestan Chechnya Karabakh Armenia Caucasus http://www.t-i.org.uk/doesiranposeathreat.php Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT Article about Iran by Ziba Norman, 19 April 2006. Game theorists are doing the calculus, claiming confrontation with Iran is all but inevitable. Israel, they say, might threaten a first strike nuclear attack, forcing the US to begin conventional military operations to avert an even more chilling scenario... Iran Iraq Israel USA Russia China nuclear attack http://www.t-i.org.uk/events.php Sat, 17 Feb 2007 00:39:00 GMT A forthcoming panel event to be held in London on Thursday 29 March 2007. Azerbaijan Armenia Karabakh Russia Caucasus http://www.t-i.org.uk/media.php Wed, 11 Jan 2006 00:00:01 GMT The Weekly Standard (16 January 2006 issue) quotes Ziba Norman on how Russia's energy exports are being used as an instrument of Russian influence abroad. http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/20/opinion/ednorman.php Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:00:01 GMT Summary: How wise is it of the U.S. and Europe to cultivate a dependence on Russian state-owned Gazprom? For Russia watchers, Gazprom's recent announcement that it plans to move into the United States, with designs to take a 10 percent market share for liquefied natural gas by 2010 and increasing that up to 20 percent as soon as production permits, should have come as no surprise. The move is part of a long-term strategy that is being skillfully executed by the Russian state-owned energy giant with the full backing of President Vladimir Putin. International Herald Tribune, 21 December 2005